Newsletter

Posted October 4, 2012 06:55 pm - Updated October 4, 2012 07:01 pm

The Editor's Desk: Who can say?; Feel-good Friday; Hope for the kids

WHO CAN SAY?: As of presstime Thursday, it was unclear whether the Clarke County Board of Education might join a number of other school boards around the state in pursuing a resolution opposing a proposed constitutional amendment that will appear on Georgia ballots next month regarding the state’s ability to approve charter schools for local school districts. Among other things, opponents of the measure worry that it could further erode state funding for public schools.

Earlier this week, state Attorney General Sam Olens wrote state school Superintendent John Barge, an opponent of the amendment, to say, apparently, that state law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars or other public resources to advocate for or against a constitutional amendment.

Fair enough. Clearly, using taxpayer dollars or taxpayer-purchased resources or taxpayer-paid personnel to advocate for or against a position with which any number of taxpayers might disagree is an abuse of the public trust.

But, if Olens is going to work to silence school boards’ opposition to the measure, ought he not also concern himself with Gov. Nathan Deal and the state lawmakers who have been advocating in favor of the charter amendment? Certainly, Deal and the lawmakers, who are paid with taxpayer dollars and either have, or could, use taxpayer-purchased resources or taxpayer-paid personnel to assist in advocacy of the charter amendment, ought to have to abide by the same restrictions that Olens contends are in effect for school boards.

Of course, neither school board members nor school district employees — as is the case similarly with lawmakers — should be muzzled on the issue, as long as they are speaking for themselves, and as long as they’re not spreading their message with the assistance, direct or indirect, of taxpayers.

FEEL-GOOD FRIDAY: Earlier this week, Forbes magazine’s website included a story on what the headline dubbed the “Hello Kitty Effect.” Briefly, the story relates a Hiroshima University study that is purported to show that “looking at cute images of puppies and kittens can enhance concentration and promote more careful behavior.”

The full story is available online at http://onforb.es/SxTjSG.

HOPE FOR THE KIDS: Well, there is hope for the younger generation, after all. On Thursday afternoon, a group of high-school students toured the Banner-Herald newsroom. As they jammed into the space, one of the students spotted my framed original advertisement for the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.”